All Photos By Gail
Summer Foods! It certainly wouldn’t be the same summer that we know and love without our favorite summer fruits, salads, sweets and snacks to enjoy, amiright? Of course I am! For the summer edition of our favorite food show, Food Fête, the event moved back over to the Metropolitan Pavilion in order to accommodate many more exciting new vendors with lots of great products to show and share. Let’s take a closer look!
Olives and Olive Oil are staple ingredients, not just of summer, but of year-round cooking — and high quality is not something on which anyone wishes to compromise. Gaea takes great pride in the fact that their products are 100% authentic. Every single olive used to make Gaea Extra Virgin Olive Oils is grown on Greek trees that are over 50 years old. At Food Fête, this award winning company showcased its line new of Lemon, Basil, and Garlic-infused EVOOs, as well as a new, grab-and-go, resealable-pack fresh Olive Snack! These new products are available in stores starting July 2015. Visit Gaea Dot GR for more information!
The National Mango Board kept it simple, serving tiny bites of fresh mango on a stick! Mangoes are delicious, full of vitamins and extremely versatile. Get to know the Mango, find recipes and learn how to cut a Mango without fear at Mango Dot Org!
Family-owned Stemilt Growers (named for the Stemilt Hill area in Eastern Washington State, where the family of founder Tom Mathison have lived and farmed since 1893) gave away little bags of sweet ripe cherries (Pictured: Skylar Rae Cherries) — our favorite summer fruit! Now it its fifth generation of family operation, Stemilt continues the company’s legacy of innovation, sustainability and production of the best-tasting fruits. Learn more about Stemilt World Famous Fruit at Stemilt Dot Com!
Grapes from California featured a new recipe for Pickled Grapes, the deliciousness of which everyone could be overheard raving about! Pickled Grapes are super easy to make and a unique addition to your summer dinner party or picnic. Get that fun recipe and many more at This Link!
Dole® is a brand name that everyone knows and trusts as a quality, culinary innovator when it comes to keeping meals and snacks simple, fun and nutritious. What a pleasure it was to be introduced to new Dole® Take Aways Salads, a great way to eat healthy on-the-go.
Take Aways Salad Meals are a tasty complete meal in one package that includes whole grains, greens, add-ins and dressing all in a recyclable container that you can use as a bowl! Even the fork (and a towlette for clean up) is included! Found in your market’s refrigerated salad section, Dole Take Aways features two vegetarian options, and two non-vegetarian varieties, which are paired with antibiotic-free grilled chicken. The Southern Picnic (Non-Vegetarian) variety, which we had a chance to sample, features a blend of Dole® Romaine and Kale, grilled chicken, black-eyed peas, quinoa, roasted pecans and cranberries, topped with Dole’s Citrus-Peach Vinaigrette and a Honey BBQ drizzle. Amazing! Dole® Take Aways will be available in September 2015 at supermarkets nationwide. Visit Dole online at This Link!
Stoneridge Orchards all-natural dried fruits and fruit treats are the next best thing to fresh fruit, and they always have something new when we see them at Food Fête. Stoneridge’s line of premium, family-farmed dried fruits include whole Cherries, Blueberries and Mixed Berries as well as Dried Sliced Peaches, whole Strawberries, and their most unique offering, Chili Lime Cherries with Tajin seasoning!
We also love their Dark Chocolate, and Greek Yogurt Dipped Fruits, a truly luxurious treat, which has just added Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries to its line of sweet indulgences! Find out more about Stoneridge Orchards and discover where to buy their products in your area by visiting This Link!
As ancient grains forge their way to the front of the Rice Alternative options, truRoots is keeping things exciting with its organic Quinoa and Ancient Grain Pastas (made in Italy with Quinoa, Amaranth and Brown Rice, to be naturally gluten free).
This amazing Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta Salad is made with with truRoots Ancient Grains Fusili, and you can make it for your family right now by the following recipe below (click on image to enlarge for detail)!
Visit truRoots online at truRoots Dot Com!
Everybody loves Eggs and we are especially fond of Eggland’s Best Eggs and Egg Products — and not just because they have Mr. EB, their adorable little Egg Mascot! Eggland’s Best is committed to producing a more nutritious egg, which is also the finest, freshest, and most delicious egg possible! Truth!
And while hard boiling an egg is not most difficult thing one can do, isn’t it nice that England’s Best conveniently packaged their already hard boiled eggs in a bag for you to purchase? Sure it is. Imagine: Deviled Eggs or Egg Salad on Demand! Ah, sublime. Read all about Eggland’s Best, get recipes and find or where to buy them, at This Link!
As the makers of one of the very first commercially available packaged granola bars, Nature Valley has been part of our lives for decades. Appropriately, they are taking breakfast back to basics with their Toasted Oats Muesli, a delicious blend of whole rolled, oven-toasted oats, fruit, nuts and seeds, which can be served hot or cold. We tried it sprinkled on top of vanilla yogurt for a very yummy and satisfying snack. Get more information, coupons and recipes at This Link!
If you love Popcorn and Popcorn snacks, but have a dread and fear of the un-popped kernel hiding somewhere in the bag or bowl, due to a having a mouth full of expensive dental work, we are here to tell you that you need not fear the HalfPops. Catering to those who believe that, when it comes to Popcorn, fluff is just fluff, HalfPops is just what it sounds like: partially popped kernels with an extra crunch and burst of concentrated corn flavor. The best part — it will not crack your teeth! We know because we tried it, and it is definitely a unique treat that will appeal to the rebel snackers out there. Air Popped to be low in fat, and gluten free, HalfPops comes in all of your favorite flavors including Butter & Sea Salt, Chipotle Barbeque, Aged White Cheddar, and Caramel & Sea Salt. Find out more about HalfPops Snacks at This Link.
We got to make some new friends when we stopped by the booth for Heluva Good (which, yes it is) Dips to sample their outstanding sour cream based Bacon Horseradish Dip, and also try their newest flavor, the scrumptious Beer Battered Onion Ring — which tastes exactly like a Beer Battered Onion Ring, and is available as a limited edition flavor for a short time only. Holy Cow, this stuff is amazing!
You really do need to get right on this, because it Summertime, and the Dip is in demand! Find out more about Heluva Good brand Dips, Cheeses and other products at Heluva Good Dot Com!
Do you like bread? We sure do, and we are fortunate to have no intolerance to wheat flour, so we can eat all the bread we want – yay! But do you know who Really likes bread: Kids. Kids love bread. But sometimes, they can be a bit finicky, like wanting the crusts cut off and blah blah blah, kids! Do you know that we once watched a Wonder Bread sandwich actually melt in the sun? Yes, it happened. Point being: There is a fine line between Bread made to appeal to Children, and Bread not found in Nature. Fortunately, Rudy’s Organic Bakery has introduced a Kids Bread that gets everything right.
Rudi’s is launching the first nationally available organic bread made specifically for kids, made with simple organic ingredients that you might find in your own kitchen. Available in both white and wheat varieties, Rudi’s Organic Bakery Kids Bread Is unique to the market. This bread has small, thin slices, making it the ideal size for kids, but the recipe was developed specifically to appeal to kids as well as parents, which means that it’s incredibly soft and fluffy. Kids Bread will hit shelves in September, just in time for the new school year. We took a loaf home from Food Fete and we can tell you it also makes the most delicious toast!
Also, available for a limited time only is Rudi’s Organic Pumpkin Bread. This bread is made with real pumpkin and has a mildly spiced flavor which makes it perfect for the upcoming holiday season. Best of all, it tastes delicious. Pumpkin lovers can find the new Pumpkin Bread from Rudy’s Organic Bakery nationally, starting in September through the holiday season. Find out more about where to purchase the fine products of Rudi’s Organic Bakery, and get a money-saving coupon, at Rudis Bakery Dot Com!
Indulgent Recipe Pudding is the newest offering from Kozy Shack, makers of the #1 Rice and Tapioca puddings in America. Indulgent Recipe Pudding is unlike any other, with a rich, creamy texture and four grown-up, decadent flavors. Indulgent Recipe is made with simple, premium ingredients — just like original recipe Kozy Shack Pudding.
With flavors like Salted Caramel, Chocolate Truffle, Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean (you can even see little flecks of Vanilla Bean in the pudding!) Kozy Shack’s Indulgent Recipe line elevates the humble pudding cup into the culinary stratosphere. Kozy Shack was kind enough to ship a sample box of all four flavors to us here at The Gig, and we have been indulging in it and loving every bite! Kozy Shack Indulgent Recipe Pudding is available this summer in select retailers across the country, with nationwide distribution anticipated in September! Visit Kozy Shack on the web at Kozy Shack Dot Com!
Eleni’s Custom Cookies is a nut-free bakery that began as a home catering business run from Eleni’s apartment and grew into a magnificent cookie empire! While they have an expansive Online Catalog of cookie designs to choose from, Eleni’s can literally make anything (anything!) into a cookie for your special event! Their creativity is limitless!
Look at these adorable Sugar Skulls and Monster Cookies for Halloween. So fun!
Visit Eleni’s in the Chelsea Market
Eleni’s has a brick and mortar location in the popular Chelsea Market on Manhattan’s West Side, but you can also visit them online to place an order at This Link!
We have to give a shout out to Udi’s Gluten Free Cookies and Granola for their mission to create the best tasting food on the planet that just happens to be gluten free! New cookie flavors showcased at Food Fête include Peanut Butter Coconut, Salted Caramel Cashew, and Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip. These are a large cookie with a soft (but not chewy) bite.
Udi’s carries a full line of Gluten free products from Bagels to Burritos that you can learn more about at This Link!
We’d also like to thank Wusthof Knives and Cutlery, and the very excellent Meyer Cookware (makes of Circulon, Farberware and many other fine brands) for changing up the vibe a bit by reminding us that every kitchen needs to be equipped with the right tools!
How gorgeous is this stuff?
Thanks to Jeff Davis for another great show! See you in the Fall!